All is fair in Love and Football
by Ibelieveinprincesses
Summary: Selection AU. When America Singer becomes an NFL cheerleader for the Seattle Seahawks, where Maxon Schreave is the head quarterback, will anything happen between the two of them? Rated T to be safe for now, I may lower it later.
1. Chapter 1

I look at myself in the mirror, my red hair cascading down my back in perfect waves, my makeup done to perfection, my skin perfectly tanned, and my sports bra and spandex shorts fit perfectly. I turn around and grab my keys off of the small table in the hotel room and find my way down to my car.

I type the address into my phone: Seattle Seahawks Football Stadium. 13 minutes away. Great. I will be about 20 minutes early. I shift into drive and pull out of the lot, making my way to the stadium for auditions to be a NFL cheerleader for the Seahawks.

I arrive at the stadium 21 minutes early and find a parking spot near the front, but there were already a lot of cars there because the whole football team was practicing there too. I grab my small bag full of mainly protein bars, water bottles, and Gatorade before heading into the stadium through the main entrance. I reach a little table and sign my name onto an audition roster, seeing that there were already a few others here for auditions. The lady at the table directs me down to the field where I see the whole football team warming up while a few other girls dressed similarly to me chat with each other and watch the team.

I get down to the field, welcomed warmly by the other girls on the sideline. "Hey! What's your name? My name is Marlee! I absolutely love your hair!" I smile at her, I've never been that much of a people person, but I decide that I really want this job, so I need to be peppy.

"I love your name, Marlee! My name is America, like the former country." I give a little laugh at the end before everyone continues chatting. Marlee comes over to me and points to one of the football players, the name "Schreave" posted along the back of his jersey. I immediately recognize him as the head quarterback for the team, and one of the best football players according to various polls around the country.

"He is so cute. Wait for him to look over." She says, and I nod. I've seen plenty of pictures of him. His blonde hair had made him the heart-throb for millions of football fans. I personally, while he is cute, don't like him. He just always seem so snobby in the interviews he does. He looks over and Marlee freak out, I laugh with her and say happily: "Yep! He is so cute! I would love to work here and see him every day!" not a total lie.

Soon, it was time to begin auditions. Surprisingly, there were only 35 of us there—not nearly as many as I expected.

Silvia, the cheerleading coach introduced herself and her staff and began by having everyone say a little about themselves before starting.

We gather in a circle and start with Marlee, who is her usual upbeat self. The circle goes along through a few others: Tuesday, Kriss, Natalie, and more. Soon it reaches a tall brunette who looks like she has a permanent, fake smile on her face. "I'm Celeste, and I hope you recognize me because I have done countless modeling campaigns and commercials for the NFL. I used to be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, but I moved here to be with my boyfriend."

I can tell I will not like her at all.

Soon it gets to me, where I introduce myself while being as happy and loud as could be, hoping to make a good impression. As soon as we were done with introductions, Silvia calls 8 girls over to the side while some of the other staff helps to warm us up.

Before I knew it, those 8 girls had tears streaming down their faces while they grabbed their bags and left the stadium before they even had a chance.

"Hello?" I ask into the phone. The other side responds back: "Hello! Is this America Singer? It is Silvia with the Seahawks cheerleaders." My eyes grow big and I respond back with a cheerful "yes!" before waiting for her to continue.

"Great! I have called to ask you to swing by the stadium sometime today to sign some papers and become an official Seahawk cheerleader!" I jump up and down excitedly and tell her I will be there soon, throwing my phone onto the bed before grabbing my favorite outfit out of my bag: a pair of brown combat boots, some light blue skinny jeans, and a cute long sleeve shirt with a vest and a scarf. I grab my keys again, still jumping and spinning around in joy and make it down to my car, driving to the stadium. On the way I call my best friend from back at home—Aspen. Everyone always thinks that we are dating and everything, but we are just friends. That's it. And I have made that clear. I just don't know if he totally understands it.

He sounded kind of sad that I got the job, which I found weird. I mean, I realize I am moving across the country from Carolina to Seattle, but we had already talked about that. I guess he just didn't want me to move.

In just one week I have already signed two important papers. First, my papers to accept my job with the team and now my papers for my new apartment that is within walking distance to the field. A few other cheerleaders and even football players live here too—including Maxon Schreave.

**Thanks for reading! I will try to update often! I hope you like it so far!**

**Sorry its pretty short, the other chapters should be longer- this was for more of an introduction.**

**~Ibelieveinprincesses**


	2. Chapter 2

I arrive at the stadium early on the first official day of practice. Our first game is away in Cincinnati, against the Bengals. In all honestly, I have never been into football, and I only understand the game enough to know when to cheer. So I have no idea how we are going to do and it is only 2 short weeks away.

I go to the room they have for all of the cheerleaders and see Marlee talking to one of the other girls, I think I recognize her as Elise from auditions. I throw my bag into a cubby near them and pull my new shoes out, throwing the flip flops I was wearing into my bag.

"Hey America! I'm so excited that we both made it!" Marlee exclaims, enveloping me in a hug. I awkwardly try to hug back, it being awkward because I am both just awkward at social interactions and because Marlee decided to hug me while I was partially bent down tying my shoe.

"I know! And our first game is in only two weeks! I am so excited!" I respond back almost as enthusiastically as Marlee was. We talk a little bit more and meet some of the other cheerleaders more in depth. Somehow Celeste made it and was already being so annoying toward everyone here. Marlee noticed too and looked at me with knowing eyes, which allowed us to share a laugh. I glance over at the clock and see that we only have 5 minutes until practice starts, I grab my water bottle right as Marlee, Elise, and I walk out to the field together.

"Okay girls!" Silvia tells us as we assemble around her, "our first order of business is to fit for our uniforms so we can take our team picture tomorrow." All of us look at each other, giddy with excitement for trying on our uniforms and getting new pom-poms and warm-ups.

After trying on dozens of boots to find the perfect pair for everyone, switching tops and bottoms with each other and grabbing all of our practice clothes and pom-poms and bags and hair accessories, it was already more than half-way through practice. We all go back into the dressing room and all change into one of our practice outfits: a lime green sports bra top with the Seahawks emblem and a pair of blue spandex shorts, our lime green pom-poms and some stark white sneakers. Just as we were about to leave the dressing room to actually practice, Celeste yells out at all of us, "SELFIE!" Even though we all hate Celeste, we rally behind her and pose for the picture, some of us pulling our phones and doing the same.

Moments later, Silvia came in to the room and tried to hurry us up, so we all threw out phones into our respective bags and went out to the field to learn a few cheers.

Before I know it, practice is over and we are all heading back to the dressing room to grab our bags and get out of the stadium. On the way out I hear lots of talk about going out to a bar or restaurant with some of the football players to celebrate the first day of practice, and after Marlee asked if I was going, I decided against it.

I have never been one for drinking. I've seen what it has done to people so I just politely decline most social situations where drinking would be involved. Don't get me wrong, I do have the occasional glass of wine with a fancy dinner, but I'm not one to drink it often. Marlee and I walk out to her car together, her heading out to the bar with Elise and me making the trek home to my new apartment.

I arrive at the doors of the high-rise a few minutes later and walk in, pressing the up button on the elevator and dumping my bags on the ground for the few brief moments I knew I had until the elevator got all the way down to the lobby.

I see the light turn off and the doors open to the elevator and reach down to grab my bags, only to realize they weren't by my feet anymore. I begin freaking out because I need to have everything in those bags for practice and games. I can't afford to lose it. I jerk my body around to see if I can catch the culprit only to basically run into Maxon Schreave, who was standing inches behind me, holding my bags along with his.

"Didn't mean to scare you there, I thought you saw me." He tells me, fairly convincingly. I calm myself down quickly as he ushers me into the elevator, pressing the button for the top floor penthouse and asking me what floor I needed. "umm, 6 please." I tell him, vaguely ashamed. Here he is, head quarterback making millions with the penthouse apartment in one of the most expensive apartments around, and I am standing there, riding the elevator up to the cheapest apartment they own with him carrying my bags.

The elevator doors close and we start going up. "So you are new to the team I guess?" he asks with an annoying smirk on his face. "yeah." I tell him, trying not to sound rude or too peppy, both of which would be bad. He nods and we reach my floor. The door opens and I reach for my bags. After realizing he isn't about to give them to me, I look up at him and he just tells me "I can take them in for you." I roll my eyes and try to disagree, but he just gently pushes me out of the elevator and asks which apartment is mine.

I unlock my door and open it up so he can put my bags down and tell him just to drop them on the table. He does so and just as I think he is about to leave he looks over to me, "Did you just move here?" he asks. I nod while I pour myself some water. "Okay. I'll keep that in mind" he says with a wink and walks out of the door. I stand right where I am in the kitchen and just look at the door with a mix of amazement and confusion at what he just said. What in the world does he mean?

Every single day of practice was very similar. The players on the field practicing while we, the cheerleaders, go practice where ever we feel like that day around the stadium. I admit, it is tiring, but I love cheering. All throughout high school I was on the Varsity cheer team, and senior year I was the cheer captain. Everyone thought it was strange that I loved cheer because I am the total opposite of the stereotypical cheerleader. Everyone else was even more shocked when I told them I was going to try out to be a NFL cheerleader.

By Friday of the first week, all of the cheerleaders were whipped. Silvia and the team had worked us to death to learn everything. Now we only have a week until our first game, but we already know most everything we need for now. It was so exciting being a NFL cheerleader, and almost all the other girls were great.

I quickly befriended Marlee, who had moved to Seattle from Kent, which was closer to me than Seattle. Elise seemed pretty nice and sweet along with Natalie. Really the only girl I don't get along with, and I don't think anyone does, is Celeste. She is terrible. All she wants to do is sleep with all of the guys on the team and become famous off of it. I seriously doubt that she will get far, her model-like body won't make up for her terrible personality.

**I hope you like this new chapter! Shout out to everyone who has read and reviewed an favorite and followed an what not!**

**I promise to update soon!**

**Love y'all and thanks for reading!**

**~Ibelieveinprincesses**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the long wait! The Holidays were super busy for me!**

**Enjoy this chapter!****I don't own any of the characters - all credit to Kiera Cass!**

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><p>I looked around my bare apartment one night after practice. A plain, tan, worn, used sofa sat in the living room with my small TV sitting on a small night stand against the wall. The kitchen looked nice, dark brown wood with black granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, all of which came with the apartment. My bedroom was simply a mattress thrown on the ground and a few mangled hangers in the small closet. Even though the decorations and furniture were fitting for a twenty-two year old just now on her own, the apartment itself was gorgeous. Wall length windows covered most of the walls that faced the city in the living room and similar windows with a view of the stadium, if you press your face to them and look out, were in the bedroom. The walls were all tall and the floors were a beautiful dark wood. The whole apartment was fantastic—more than I could have hoped for as my first one.<p>

I plop myself down on my couch and turn on my TV, flipping through the channels quickly. After passing through and couple I see Maxon's face flash on the small screen and I flip the channel back until I finally find the channel he was on. They were interviewing him about the team and his prospects for the coming season. I just watch him as he easily answers the questions, the way he talks sounds nothing like you would expect from a football player. He seemed very well educated and spoken, unlike some players I've seen be interviewed who have to place "um" or "uh" between every other word and still can't form a coherent sentence.

His interview was fairly short, as they had a bunch of other teams they interviewed, but it was great. Just like the rest of the team and cheerleaders, we all have high hopes of getting to the biggest game of the year next February. The Seahawks were close last year, but still didn't quite get there—meaning there is lots of hope and determination this year. I look at the time in the corner of the screen. Its only 11am. We have the day off, which makes me happy because even though I have cheered for most of my life, I am still sore after this past week.

Before I realized that I even went to sleep on the couch, I heard a knock at the door. Who in the world would be coming to see me? I check my phone to see if anyone texted me, like Marlee, that they were coming over. Nope. I groan and get up off the sofa, stretching to wake myself up, and walk over to the door. I open it up and see Maxon standing there in casual clothes instead of his athletic team attire. It was strange to see him as more than just an athlete. He looked like a regular person you would see walking around anywhere.

"Hey…" he pauses, questioning my name. "America," I tell him. "Cool name. I was just wondering if you wanted to come up to my place with some of the other Seahawk team mates who live here too? I would have just texted you, but I didn't have your number…" He says, trailing off as though he was uncertain about something near the end.

I think about it a little. There might be alcohol involved, which I wouldn't like, but it would also be a great way to meet some people. I shrug and tell him that I will come up, I just need to change. He nods and edges his way into my apartment. I give him a questioning look and he just says "I'll wait for you." I close the door and turn around, rolling my eyes. He is such a player. As I take a few steps I hear laugh behind me while saying, "I saw that!" I feel my face turn bright red as I go into the bedroom and shut the door. What is up with him?

I pull out some dark skinny jeans and a plain dark green t-shirt and change out of my comfy shorts and old cheer shirt. I quickly apply some foundation and mascara, not wanting to look terrible when I meet people I will probably be spending a good amount of time with. I run a brush through my long hair and walk back into the living room, seeing Maxon sitting on the couch staring intently at the TV. I cough to get his attention.

"Oh, sorry. Don't you love this show? It's so great." He says, standing up. I glance at the screen and see that the new hit show "The Diaries of Gregory" on. I just nod, I haven't actually seen and episode, I've only heard about it.

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><p>I follow Maxon to the elevator and we press the button, both silent as we wait. Finally the elevator reaches my floor and we ride up to the top floor. I follow him into his apartment and look around in awe. Floor to ceiling windows are basically the walls, and everything looks so put together and fancy. I guess this is what it is like when you make millions of dollars.<p>

After taking it all in, I realize no one else is there. I know there are more people who live in this building who are with the team, so I turn and ask Maxon where everyone is.

"Oh, I didn't tell them to come until 5 tonight." He says blankly, pouring some water into two glasses. I narrow my eyes at him. Why didn't he tell me? I don't want to be in his apartment alone with him! He is a jerk! "Why didn't you tell me that earlier?" I ask forcefully, not wanting to flat out yell. He turns around with the glasses of water in his hands and smirks at me. "I just wanted to get to know the newest member of our building," he says. I don't believe him. I roll my eyes and snatch a glass of water from his hand.

"Why are you always rolling your eyes at me?" He asks as I take a sip out of the glass. I resist the urge to roll my eyes at him again and just simply refuse to answer him. We sit there quietly for a couple of minutes, him just staring at me, and me just staring at the clock and counting the minutes until 5. I still have 2 hours to go.

After sitting in silence for a few more minutes, Maxon began to talk. "So, America, tell me about yourself." I just stare at him. What would he want to know about little me?

I run through random information in my head, denying most of it. I was just in a serious relationship—nope. He broke it off suddenly—nope. I only moved to Seattle to get away—nope. My family was very poor—nope. My oldest brother deserted my family—nope. I finally decided to simply tell him I could play the violin, though I rarely was able to practice anymore and couldn't bring it with me.

He was way more excited about that bit of information than he should have been. Before he could ask more, I shot the question back at him because I don't want him knowing everything about me—he has no reason to even want to know me. He paused for a second to think before just telling me how long he had been playing football. So boring.

Finally a few other people arrived. There were less people here than I was expecting, no more than 10-15. And they were all football players. Except me. I was the only girl at the party and it was so intensely awkward.

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><p><strong>Read, favorite, follow, review!<strong>

**~~ibelieveinprincesses**


	4. Chapter 4

**As always, I don't own the characters, and the reference to a quote that I used in the chapter—all rights go to Kiera Cass.**

**Enjoy! I like this chapter a lot!**

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><p>All these football players were making me nervous. I have never been good with guys. My last, and only relationship ended terribly.<p>

_"__America, I know how important cheering is to you, so you should go for it." Aspen tells me as we sit together under the shade of an old tree in the commons of Carolina U. I nod, feeling great about where this is going, maybe he will finally acknowledge and accept my decision to want to go pro. This could be the moment. We have enough money put together to have a small little family and friends service and pay the local priest by now, I don't know why he hasn't asked for my hand yet._

_ "__but, if you want to go into NFL cheerleading, we simply can't be together anymore. I couldn't deal with you travelling and being away so much, and plus, you need a real job. Cheering won't get you very far." I feel my eyes welling up with tears as Aspen tells me this. I just shake my head and stand up, rushing away from him and up to my dorm._

_May, my roommate, is in our room studying as I walk in. She immediately gets up and after at least an hour or so, I finally calm down. _

_ "__Don't let a stupid boy tell you that it's either him or your dream. If your dream and him are separate ideas, then there is someone else special in your dream and its sure not him." May tells me as I catch my breath between small sobs. I just nod my head to her and lay my head down on my pillow, falling asleep._

_I wake up and glance at the clock. 2:13 am. I look over and see May sleeping in her bed across the room and I decide to see if he has texted me to change his mind. I was so sure he was going to propose to me right then and there, but instead he shunned me. Maybe May is right. He is obviously not in my dream, so I should forget him. _

_No texts, calls, emails, or messages on any social media. Nothing at all. I go to my text messages with him and begin to type:_

_ "__It's over. We are two totally different people with totally different lives and dreams ahead of us and I don't think this relationship is the best thing for us."_

_I click send without a second thought. Well, I did think about it a lot after I sent it, as tears silently run down my cheeks. I go to my computer and boot it up. I go to the internet and search: "NFL teams on the west coast."_

_I end up looking through audition information and team information about a couple teams until the morning. When May woke up, she came over and looked over my shoulder and smiled a sincere smile at me, not even knowing that I had ended whatever Aspen and I had only 8 hours before._

So, I look around the room, seeing guy after guy holding a beer glass and joking around, and decide to leave. I suck at social interaction. I reach the elevator when I feel a piece of fabric fall over my shoulders. I turn around and see Maxon standing there and I reach for whatever was on my shoulders. It was my coat that I almost left there. He gives me a sincere smile and presses the elevator button for me, simply saying "see you at practice" as I leave.

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><p>When I wake up the next morning that we have practice and see it raining buckets outside, I silently thank Maxon for giving me my coat back, since I have to walk to practice. I take a quick shower, mourning over the fact that it was raining because I hate rain. It didn't rain much back in Carolina, but here in Seattle, there was almost always at least one ominous looking cloud in the sky, which made being outside much worse, since I normally love being outdoors.<p>

I change into some Seahawks yoga pants and tank top with my jacket before going out to the elevator to begin my long, wet, walk to practice.

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><p>Practice was fairly uneventful and boring because we couldn't practice on the field due to the rain. I think everyone was overjoyed when we finally were let out an hour early to go home.<p>

I take the short walk back to the apartment building and walk in, struggling slightly with my bags. Just as the elevator arrives I hear someone call out to hold the elevator, so I decide to be nice and listen, pressing the open door button once I'm inside.

My heart drops when I realize it is Maxon running toward the elevator. I could press the button and just leave him, but he was basically here—that wouldn't be the right thing to do. So I wait a couple more seconds and he finally gets on the elevator. We press our respective floors and the elevator doors close on us.

I pull out my phone, not wanting to socialize with anyone. Rainy days put me in terrible moods. As we begin to reach my floor Maxons asks: "America, do you want to come up and hang out in my apartment? I mean, after you get a shower and all…" he fades off. I roll my eyes and _accidently _hit him pretty hard on his leg with my heavy bag as the elevator doors open and I get out. I look back right as the doors are closing and see him almost doubled over as the elevator doors close. Oops.

I take a quick shower and plop myself on the couch with my TV turned on. I notice that "The Diaries of Gregory" is on and decide to watch just a little bit of it, since everyone else thought it was so good. The 3rd episode of the night that I was watching was interrupted when my phone beeped with a text from an unknown number.

"Do you even know how long it took me to find your number?" The text asked.

I text back: "Who is this?" and I throw my phone back beside me.

Moments later my phone rings again with a text: "Oh, sorry. Bad manners on my part! It's Maxon."

He is such a creeper for getting my number. Before I can respond he texts me again: "I don't mean to be a creeper with getting your number and all, but I wanted to tell you that I'm okay."

"What are you even talking about? Did you get hurt at practice? And who in the world gave you my number?"

A few minutes later he texts me back: "sorry, I'm watching the Diaries. Carter (Linebacker) asked Marlee if she had it, so I basically got it from Marlee. Hope that's okay… And I'm talking about finally recovering from your bag hitting me in the worst spot as you picked it up in the elevator."

I roll my eyes. I hit him in the leg. That couldn't have hurt _that _bad. "Come on, I totally hit your leg." I tell him, doubting what he is saying. He texts back immediately.

"It doesn't take that long to recover from a hit to the leg." I laugh and put my phone on the table, ignoring anything else he wants to say. While that is hilarious, it is also super embarrassing.

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><p>I cook some microwave mac and cheese for dinner and then change into my pajamas and finish packing my suitcase since we leave for Cincinnati tomorrow. I pack a couple pairs of practice clothes, my warm ups, and the uniform along with two sets of normal clothes in case we have time to go out, which we never know if we will have or not.<p>

I set my alarm for 6 am in the morning and fall asleep quickly, silencing my phone when it wakes me up at 11 pm with a text from Maxon.

My alarm goes off too soon, so I turn it off and cuddle up in the covers for a few more minutes before getting up and taking my speedy shower. When I finally arrive outside the stadium to catch a ride to the airport with Marlee and some other teammates, I am just beginning to actually wake up and become more aware and less groggy.

We make our way to the airport and hop on the plane about an hour later, finding our own seats. I sit beside Marlee with Elise across the aisle from us and a couple of other cheerleaders around us. I am talking to Marlee about our schedule once we get there when I hear a familiar voice behind me. I glance around, trying not to be creepy by turning around, and see Maxon behind me. This is going to be a long flight.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! I hope this chapter clears some of your doubts and concerns about the characters!<strong>

**As always, comments are appreciated as I would love to improve my writing!**

**~~ibelieveinprincesses**


	5. Chapter 5

**I apologize so much for the long wait on this chapter, I PROMISE to try to update more often!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Once the plane finally took off, after what seemed like forever waiting for the whole team to get on, I put in my earbuds and put my iPod on shuffle, hoping it would last the whole flight. I ended up falling asleep not too long after and only woke up when Marlee shook me awake to see if I wanted anything to drink. I shook my head no, but wasn't able to get back into a comfortable position to sleep in, and Marlee was talking to Carter behind us loudly.<p>

I am very surprised to hear Marlee actively flirting with Carter when she had even told me recently that she thinks Maxon is, as she says, "too cute for words." I just laugh at her silently and shake my head, drowning myself in my music. I had gone through only about 3 more songs before I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around to be greeted by Maxon's face staring straight at me from between the seats.

'Hey, you excited for the game?" He asks in a friendly tone. I just nod back, sometimes he can be so annoying. Before I he said anything more, though, I remembered my embarrassment from the elevator incident and decided that the least I could do kinda make up for it would be to talk to him.

I continue the conversation, asking him the same question back. Obviously he would be excited—he is basically the most well-known and best quarterback in the NFL right now! We continue some easy small talk for a while, just chatting about how we ended up in Seattle and so on. He came just because he was drafted, but he had been wanting to be a Seahawk for as long as he could remember. My story is fairly drab compared to that—trying to get away from Aspen being my main motivation for becoming a Sea-gal.

We talked for at least a good half hour, nothing more than small talk though. Suddenly, when I thought I was going to be left alone for the short amount of time we had left on our flight, he asked me, "Wanna go out to eat sometime this weekend, before we head back to Seattle?" My mind begins to churn—what do I say? I can't exactly deny him since he is the biggest, best guy on the team, but I don't really want a relationship. I just nod my head, but decide that I am most definitely going to be sure he knows I don't want a relationship, I am just accepting his invitation out of kindness.

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><p>About an hour after we finally landed in Cincinnati, we arrive at the hotel. My family has never been traveling much due to our lack of money, so this was only the second time I have ever stayed in a hotel room—the first being when I went to Seattle to try out. Marlee and I were sharing a room together, we were lucky to end up with a room that just fit 2. Since we arrived later than expected, we got the rest of the day off to walk around town and sightsee, with the unspoken promise (at least unspoken to us cheerleaders) not to get any drinks, which was obviously not an issue for me.<p>

Marlee and I, along with a couple other cheerleaders, make our way to the zoo. None of us really have any motivation to do much other than walk around or stay in our hotel room, so we decide that the zoo is the easiest place to go.

We walk past the tiger exhibit first, then slowly make our way around the zoo, not paying much attention to the time. After going through most of the zoo, I feel my phone buzz in my pocket. I take it out and see a text from Maxon, "Wanna do dinner tonight?" I look at the time—5:47—and text him back a simple, "sure."

I send the text and Marlee explodes behind me: "America! Are you going to dinner with Maxon Schreave tonight? O Mi Gosh! We have to dress you up nice!" I feel my cheeks go red and try to tell her, along with the other girls that are with us and are now also freaking out, that we aren't going out or anything, just eating dinner together as purely friends. None of them heard me. I tell Maxon that I will meet him at the hotel and he tells me, "ok, on my way now. Got a place picked out close to the hotel."

We make our way back to the hotel and somehow, much against my will, I end up in a casual blue dress and some short heels—a combination of a couple girls' clothes and jewelry since I didn't pack anything remotely nice, according to them. I tell Maxon my room number and hear a knock moments later. Marlee goes and answers the door since I refuse. My nerves are going crazy and I don't understand why—it's not like I have a crush on him or anything

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><p>Maxon takes me to a restaurant down the road that had lots of hamburgers and steaks and the like. Everything I would imagine a football player like him enjoying. When we sit down, he asks me if I want any wine or beer. I look at him like he's crazy. "what?" he asks, dumbfounded. I just tell him how stupid it is that he wants to drink before the big game, and that I don't drink in the first place. He just nods and when he waiter comes, we both order water. I smile at my small win over him.<p>

Before he can say anything to me that could be flirting, I flat out tell him, "I'm not looking for a relationship now, if that is why you brought me here." I saw his face droop a little, but he caught himself while he confirmed that we are only friends. While I don't completely think he really feels that way, at least I know he is trying and will respect my want to not go any further than friends.

We enjoyed our meal, making some more small talk and betting on the game and such. The food was absolutely delicious. I ended up getting a Burger and Maxon got a huge steak, both of which were cooked beyond comparison. We even got dessert, a delicious strawberry tart that we both shared. My sister, May would have loved it so much. We never get dessert much at home, so we generally only eat fruit as our dessert, and I know that this strawberry tart would absolutely make her cry. She would love it so much. I make a mental note to bring her here sometime if we end up in Cincinnati, but I know that will probably never happen.

Maxon asks me what I am thinking about, and I end up telling him all about May and how much she means to me. She is such a little angel. He just smiles and stares at me, rather uncomfortably, as I tell him, but I just get so much pride out of her, that I barely even notice it.

* * *

><p>Maxon, being the gentleman he is, dropped me off at my hotel room before bidding good night. As soon as I walk in, Marlee bombards me with questions about what happened. I calm her down and tell her that it was no more than a good meal with a friend, and that was all we were. She still refused to believe me even after telling her multiple times.<p>

When I finally get under the warm sheets in the bed, I notice it is almost midnight—too late to be going to sleep before a game. I quickly set my alarm and curl up in bed, falling asleep soon after my head hit the pillow.

My alarm turns on too soon, earning a groan from me as I throw off my covers. I quickly turn my alarm off and grab the set of green and blue warm ups that we are told to wear on game day. I take a quick shower and throw on some makeup while Marlee gets dressed before we go down to breakfast.

Hours later, we finally arrive at the stadium for warm up and dressing. I get off the bus and as I walk into the locker room with the other girls, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and see Maxon there. He quickly wishes me good luck before rushing off to his locker room. I walk into the large dressing area and pull out my phone, texting him the same thing before pulling out my uniform and changing into it.

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you like the chapter, I had fun writing it! Again, I promise to write and post more often!<strong>

**~Ibelieveinprincesses**


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